24 April 2014

In the final book of the Take My Series, Emily and Dexter are finally on course to a happy future. Arriving back in the UK with Aunt Sarah in tow, everything seems to be slotting into place. For the first time in his life, Dexter has found his purpose. Surrounded by family, friends and the woman he adores, he has at long last made peace with his demons and is determined to fight for the life he now knows he deserves.

With best friend Rachel back by her side and a resolve to work things out with her parents once and for all, Emily’s life is also on the right track. Or so she thinks…

When a tragic revelation threatens to destroy Emily’s world, it sends her spiraling down a path leading to more secrets, lies and heartache – leaving her questioning her whole life and everyone in it. To top it off, Emily almost lost one of the most important men in her life once before, is it about to happen again?

“This is it, doll. Our future. I need you to hold on to it and never let go.”

This
is a series and I must say that you must read ALL books in order to understand
what it is really going on. This can’t be read as a standalone as you will be a
little lost.

This
series has sooooo much going on. It is a roller coaster of emotions and events.
You can be mad, sad, happy and crying all at the same time.

Here is a little of each and every book.

“Take My Hand”
At the young age of 19, Emily decides it’s time to move out from home and in
with her best friend Rachel. They move to London to attend the university. But
holy smokes is everything ever so different. Emily has lived at home all her
life and never had experienced the “REAL WORLD”. Now at college and on her own
its time to take the world ON and get out there. And out there is where she
meets Dexter. He is in London for school and work. And NOTHING else. But how
can he turn his back at what Emily is making him feel?

The
interaction between this couple is so cute. They try to fight against
everything. But sometimes you can’t fight against love.

“Hold On Tight”

This book is the book
that makes you “OH NO!!!” Dexter finds himself using drugs and loosing Emily. Yes,
she loves him but can’t stand the fact that he is spiraling out of control. She
leaves and goes back home. Making it even harder on Dexter to let go of drugs,
his pain, and his guilt. but is he willing to lose Emily over all of this???

“Lean
On Me”
Rachel and Jared share their love story with us in this book. Rachel is
loud, outspoken and outgoing. Her only flaw is a wheelchair and doesn’t like
people to give her the pity look and that is the reason she rarely lets anyone
in her life. Jared doesn’t care. He wants Rachel and will do anything to make
her happy. He has issues of his own but lives to make Rachel happy. How does a
couple fight each other’s insecurities and still make it work?? By loving
each other.

“Never
Let Go”

Last but not least. This book is the last of the series. The
culmination of a great series. Chris is an amazing brother and friend. With a
secret he wants to keep from those he loves. His pain is so tangible. Your
heart breaks every time you read about him. This book is an awesome ending to a
very emotional series. The author does an awesome job wrapping up the series
and answering all the questions our reader mind creates throughout the series.
I can’t put a rating on one book only. so this is a 5/5 star rating for the
whole series!

Yes there is usually sadness in my
heart when I am getting ready to finish a series and while I will admit this
series didn’t grip me mind body and soul like others have, this final book
sealed the deal for me. I could have never dreamed that this author would
have been able to take what I thought was a really good story and create a
final book that would have me in tears and regretting that I didn’t see all of
the value in these characters from book one. The only defense I have is
the first books were so full of push and pull with everyone’s emotions,
addiction, lies, betrayals and a ton of unanswered questions left behind, I
found myself so exhausted that I don’t think I had the energy to fall in love.

Never Let Go is appropriately named
because by the last 20% of the book I did not want to let go of this
story. Emily has finally found the courage to confront her parents and
the past that shattered her heart. That lingering question that had
shaped who she became was finally going to be asked, why do you hate me
mom. I know I wasn’t ready for the answer, it blew me away and I gasped
loudly when I read it. What follows after the truth is exposed was
emotional heartwarming and I don’t think I was able to really feel Emily’s
heart break till she was allowed to heal. Her strength in this book
surpasses her ability in the other books and she really becomes a hero in this
story.

Dex, oh my, how I have grown to hate
him, forgive him, love him and then wait to be disappointed again by him not
only surprised me but made me feel a level of pride and love for him that I
didn’t imagine was possible. It was finally time for him to step out of
the self-pity and hatred and reach out to nurture and love someone else.
What he found is when he gave his love and heart to his new family, he healed
from within and earned that self-respect he had lost as a teenager.
Having his past baggage taken care of, it opened him up for a future.
More importantly it opened him up to accept love and acceptance from Emily and
her family. I ended up adoring this man and how the story ended was
exactly what he deserved now.

We have Jared and Rachel, back in
this story. I know a lot of readers hated Rachael from the first book, I
don’t know for some reason I connected with her and always counted on her sick
sense of humor to carry me through when Emily’s world was falling apart.
She didn’t let me down on this one either. Being pregnant with twins she
is still that sarcastic smart butt that we have grown to either love or hate
but what I admired the most was she brought Jared out of his shell and we
really get to see his true personality in this last book. Those two are a
riot and I actually found I looked forward to when they would enter the story
again.

Now the hard part, Chris, Emily’s
brother. He had always taken care of Emily since their dad just left them
alone and their mom wasn’t exactly the most nurturing woman in the world, but
he is now faced with some heavy stuff. Knowing that he has to solve some
issues and do it soon we are able to see what it was he had been hiding from
Emily. If you had read the book prior to this one, you remember at the
end Dex found a letter that let us readers know Chris had cancer. Well
this book took him on the journey of treatments and making sure Emily was going
to be okay if he died. His acceptance of his fate and of turning over the
responsibility of taking care of Emily to Dex had me in tears more than
once. Chris had to learn what forgiveness was and about giving second chances
that he probably would not be allowed to have himself. His story was gut
wrenching and I found myself sobbing alone in the dark not wanting to read more
because I didn’t want to risk saying goodbye to him.

I can’t recommend this series
enough. This author not only knows how to write she creates a slow magic
with her characters. There isn’t this instant need for you to fall in
love with them just allow yourself to care and that feeling will grow with each
book. Well done Ms. Haken, you have totally taken my heart with this
group and I will have fond memories of them forever.

“I don’t have time for this,
Dad,” I muttered on a heavy sigh.

“Please, son. Don’t go, not
yet. Let’s have another coffee, then if you still feel the same, we’ll go back
to how things were. Apart.”

“No, I don’t mean right now. I
mean I really haven’t got time to keep hating you. There are so many things
wrong with what you’ve just told me, there are three thousand reasons why I
should walk out of here and never look back, and I genuinely don’t know how you
can ever make this right with Emmie. But… I won’t be here in twelve months
time, Dad. I can’t spend those months fighting with you – reasoning with you…
struggling to understand what you did.

“In order for me to have any
hope of enjoying these next few months of life, I can’t afford to dwell on the
past. I don’t understand the decisions you’ve made in your life, Dad, but I
accept them, and… I forgive you.”

I noticed tears bubbling up in
the corners of my dad’s eyes and I had to force myself to look away before mine
started falling too. It took all my strength not to be mad at him. Why couldn’t
he have done this years ago? Back when I really needed him.

“And they’re sure? The
doctors?” he asked with a slight tremor in his voice. Why does everyone ask
that? It seems like doctors are classed as superheroes until they tell you
something bad.

“Positive. I had my first chemo
session a couple of weeks ago. I have another in two days. That should slow it
down… but only by a few months and nothing’s guaranteed.”

“Months?” he repeated – barely
a whisper. I noticed my dad look down at his mug and I suspected it was to hide
his suddenly damp eyelashes. “Christopher…” he breathed, refusing to look at
me. “I don’t want to lose you too.”

What the hell was I supposed to
say to that? ‘Oh okay then, Dad. I’ll stay alive just for you.’ I knew my anger
was unjustified and so I swallowed it down with a sip of coffee.

“I don’t want it either,” I
admitted.

“I’m so sorry, son. I’ve missed
out on so much. I don’t deserve to be a father.”

“Whoa,” I said, straightening
my back in my chair. “Don’t you start the feeling sorry for yourself bullshit.
Whether you deserve to be or not, you are a father. So if your next line was
going to be that you’d be better off leaving Emmie to get on with her life
without you, don’t you dare. Don’t you fucking dare. You’ve let us both down,
Dad. It might be too late to make it up to me but you better spend every single
day of the rest of your life making it up to Emily.”

“I will. I swear I will.”

I planned to just sit around
until I felt composed enough to face the world again, but with every blink
visions of beautiful white lines and glasses of clear liquid numbness
overwhelmed my mind. So, I did the only thing that ever manages to stop me from
thinking – I changed into my sweats, headed outside and ran.

I didn’t have a destination in
mind. In fact, I didn’t even recognize half the streets I flew through. I just
ran. I ran until my thighs began to burn and my chest started to ache. I ran
until all I could focus on was my rapid breathing and my numb toes. I ran until
I couldn’t remember why I was even running.

Then my cell chimed in my
pocket, dragging me back to reality.

“Hey, doll,” I answered
breathlessly after seeing Emily’s name illuminate the screen.

“Where are you? Chris said you
came home.”

“Where are you?” I returned
quizzically.

“At home. Waiting for you.”

Shit.

“I just came out for a run.
I’ll make my way back now.”

“Are you okay?” she asked
instead of saying goodbye. Of course, Emily is the only person that can read me
like a fucking book.

“Not really,” I admitted. The
truth – that’s the only way our future together would survive. “We’ll talk when
I get home. Ten minutes max.”

“Ok. Don’t ever forget that I
love you.” Hearing those words, my heart vibrated in my chest – reminding me
why I was alive. I remember the very first time I said those words to her, and
no matter how hard I pushed, she never forgot.

After tucking my cell back in
my pocket, I doubled over and braced my hands on my knees while I dragged in a
few much needed breaths. Then, straightening up, I stretched my neck from side
to side and set off back to break my girls heart.

Nicola lives in Rochdale, England with her husband and four children (six if you include the dogs!) She is the author of New Adult/Contemporary romance novels Inevitable, Saving Amy and the Take My Hand series. When she is not busy playing with her imaginary book friends (or talking about them with real life friends!) she can usually be found carrying out her ordinary mum/housewife/all round slave duties. Oh, and if the kids ever ask, she moonlights as the Pink Power Ranger while they’re sleeping…